Battle for Minnesota Senate could shift balance of power at the state Legislature
Going into the fall elections, Democrats see multiple paths to win the Senate and end the nation’s only divided state legislature.
Top DFL targets include a number of suburban districts held by GOP incumbents — Sen. Warren Limmer of Maple Grove, Sen. Roger Chamberlain of Lino Lakes and Sen. Dan Hall of Burnsville — and several Rochester-area seats. An open seat in the western suburbs, where Hillary Clinton won with 60% of the vote in 2016, and GOP-held seats in the Bemidji and Stillwater are also seen as potential pickup opportunities.
“We need two seats, and I think it looks really good if the election were tomorrow that we would be in the [Senate] majority,” said DFL Party Chair Ken Martin. “I would not trade our place at all with the Republicans in the state.”
But Senate Republicans are on offense, too, vying to flip a handful of DFL-held seats that President Donald Trump won in 2016. Freshman Democrat Matt Little, in a Lakeville-based district the president carried with 60% in the last election, faces a challenge from veteran and businessman Zach Duckworth. Sen. Dan Sparks of Austin is also seen as vulnerable in his race against Republican Gene Dornink in southern Minnesota. Republicans hope recruiting former Woodbury Mayor Mary Giuliani Stephens to run against Senate Minority Leader Susan Kent could put that suburban seat in play.
Victories in any of those districts could create a buffer against any DFL gains, allowing Republicans to hold or even expand their majority heading into 2021.
State and national political headwinds are likely to play a major role in determining the outcome of the down-ballot races. Suburbs in Minnesota and across the national have trended toward Democrats in recent years, including in 2018, when the DFL won all statewide offices and flipped 16 seats to secure a majority in the state House. Walz carried 10 districts represented by Senate Republicans that year.
https://www.startribune.com/battle-for-minnesota-senate-could-shift-balance-of-power-at-the-state-legislature/572395982/